Re: 'Area 1 voters, please support…' [Village News, Letter, 8/24/23]

In response to Marie Morris’s letter: I am certain that Lief Hansen is a wonderful person, with “good listening ears.” And he would probably make a great school board member . . . in 1955, the year Marty McFly visits in Back to the Future.

But our students are preparing for a much different world than the one Mr. Hansen imagines can be created in the next few years, that world where children aren’t connected to every other part of the world with the touch of a smartphone screen.

What we need for our school boards are trustees who are anticipating what skills our students will need to be successful 10 years from now, 30 years from now, 50 years from now.

As technology advances at an ever-accelerating pace, more and more low skill jobs will disappear, and our high school students of today will be facing a job market that will require them to be constantly learning new skills (which requires them to be lifelong learners.) They will also be required to work with others from increasingly diverse backgrounds and cultures, both here in America and around the globe.

If we as a community, and as a nation, are not going to be left on the scrapheap of history, then we need teachers, administrators, and school board members who will embrace the future, and not run from it. Our students are certainly ready to jump into the future. They cannot wait for the newest technology, and many of them realize they have an opportunity to be a part of creating that future. We do them no favor by trying to create schools that are little more than cocoons, protecting them from a “dangerous” world.

What we need are school board members like Tauna Rodarte, who realize that the best thing we can do for students who bring the rest of the world into their high school classroom every day on their smartphones, is to teach them how to deal with that world wisely.

While it certainly would be enjoyable to go back and visit 1955, our students have a much better chance of visiting the year 2055, 32 years from now, when they are in their mid to late 40s. Will they be grateful for their high school protecting them from controversial issues and deferring to their parents’ wish that they attend a school similar to Hill Valley High School in 1955?

Or will they be upset that their high school didn’t do a better job of preparing them to be successful in a rapidly changing world? Or will they be grateful for School board members like Tauna Rodarte who will push for Fallbrook High School to be at the forefront of preparing students to be ready for the changes that will inevitably happen in this world?

I urge you to vote for Tauna Rodarte for District Area One. Tauna is committed to a sensible approach to education, one that supports a curriculum for all students, values the whole child by providing the arts, campus improvement (our pool is on its last legs,) and appropriate parent involvement. Tauna has the experience, the knowledge, and the insight to assure our high school students are prepared for the world they will face.

Bill Cavanaugh